Automatic power factor correction system

ABSTRACT

An automatic power factor correction system, for an electrical power installation drawing varying levels of reactive power, measures an electrical parameter of the power drawn by a load of a power installation which is capable of indicating a level of reactive power drawn by the load and couples a combination of capacitors to the power line to compensate for the level of reactive power indicated by the electrical parameter measured. In particular, the system measures the phase angle of the power drawn and calculates a combination of capacitors to connect to the power line to compensate for a measured level of reactive power.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

[0001] This is a continuation-in-part of copending U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 09/874,690 for AUTOMATIC POWER FACTOR CORRECTIONSYSTEM filed Jun. 5, 2001, now U.S. Pat. No. ______.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0002] The present invention relates to electrical power controlcircuitry and, more particularly, to an improved system for monitoringand correcting the power factor of a power installation.

[0003] Electrical power is an enormously versatile and convenient sourceof energy. However, there are costs in generating and distributingelectrical energy, which tend to increase when demand for electricalpower increases. For this reason, there is always a motivation forincreasing the efficiency of electrical power transmission andutilization

[0004] Alternating current electrical power is characterized by a phaserelationship between the current and voltage. Current lagging thevoltage results from a preponderance of inductive loads, while currentleading the voltage results from capacitive loads. An in-phaserelationship results from resistive loads or a balance of inductive andcapacitive loads. In-phase current results in “real” or resistive power,while out-of-phase current results in “apparent” or reactive power fromthe influence of inductive or capacitive reactance in the power circuit.A commonly used measure of the phase relationship between current andvoltage is power factor, which is equal to the cosine of the phase angletherebetween. Power factor maximizes at a value of unity when therelationship is effectively resistive, is positive and less than onewhen inductive, and is negative and less than one when capacitive.

[0005] There tend to be more types of inductive loads connected to powerlines than capacitive, such as electric motors, transformers, and thelike. Power companies often impose surcharges on industrial powercustomers when their loads drive the power factor below a selectedlevel. To avoid this, industrial users often connect power factorcorrecting capacitors to the power line along with their inductive loadsto compensate and retain the power factor at an economic level.

[0006] In residential power installations, the majority of electricalenergy consumed is in refrigeration, ventilation, air conditioning,lighting, and, in some cases, heating. Relatively small amounts ofenergy are also used for communications, computers, entertainmentdevices, and the like. Watt-hour meters typically used in residentialand small business installations do not distinguish between real powerand apparent power. Thus, the customer is charged for both, even thoughapparent power is not actually “consumed” for any purpose useful for thecustomer.

[0007] While there are power factor correcting systems available forlarge industrial power users, there have been no practical or economicaldevices for correcting power factors of residential and small businesscustomers. Generally, industrial power factor correcting systems areassociated with the equipment for which they are intended to compensateand are activated in coordination with such equipment. In the past, ithas not been considered practical or economical for owners ofresidential property to install power factor correction devices for eachpossible inductive load. Additionally, inductive devices in residencestend to be activated at random times, for example, under the control ofthermostats.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0008] The present invention provides a system for correcting the powerfactor of small power installations, such as residences, apartments,small businesses, and the like. The system of the present inventiongenerally includes a plurality of reactance units or capacitors whichare selectively coupled to a power line and a sensor unit to determineif the capacitors connected to the power line have favorably affectedthe power factor.

[0009] In general, the present invention measures an electricalparameter of the power drawn by a load of a power installation which iscapable of indicating a level of reactive power drawn by the load andcouples a combination of reactance elements to the power line tosubstantially compensate for the level of reactive power indicated bythe electrical parameter measured. The invention is directed to a firstembodiment which is based entirely on a level of current measured andthe effect of compensating reactance on the measured current level and asecond embodiment which is based on a measurement of phase angle of thepower drawn.

[0010] More particularly, the first embodiment of the power factorcorrection system of the present invention continually measures thecurrent level drawn by the installation. When an increase in current isdetected, it is assumed that a power load has been activated. Acapacitor unit is connected to the power line, and the current measuredagain. If the current level increases, it is determined that capacitorunit has not favorably affected the power factor, and the capacitor isdisconnected. If, on the other hand, connecting the capacitor caused themeasured current to decrease, additional capacitance is connected to thepower line. The process repeats until the current again rises, at whichpoint, the most recently connected capacitor is disconnected.

[0011] In measuring the current drawn by loads within the powerinstallation, the present invention averages a number of currentmeasurements over time and takes no compensation action unless a changeof a selected current difference is measured in less than a selectedinterval ov time. This approach, thus, reduces switching transients bymaking the system relatively immune to small variations in drawncurrent. In a preferred embodiment, the present invention basescompensating capacitance increments in multiples of a base capacitancewhich would result in a reactance that would draw about one ampere ofcurrent at the nominal power line frequency and voltage. The basecapacitance is 22 microfarads for a power installation with a linefrequency of 60 hertz and a nominal voltage of 110 volts.

[0012] The present invention maximizes the speed of arriving at acompensating combination of capacitors by providing a set of capacitorswith values varying in powers of two multiplied by the base capacitance.The set of capacitors include: 1, 2, 4, 8 . . . 128 times the basecapacitance. By this means, the power factor correction quickly arrivesat an initial correction by doubling the value of compensatingcapacitance until the measured current level increases. In binary terms,this initial correction represents a “most significant digit”. Theprocess continues, by incrementing rather than doubling, until anoptimum combination is determined, which also fills in the “lesssignificant digits”.

[0013] A typical installation of the present invention includes a set ofeight compensating capacitors with values ranging in powers of two from1 to 128 times the base capacitance of 22 microfarads. The compensatingcapacitors are connected through latching switches across the powerline. The latching switches are interfaced to an eight-bit output portof a controller, such as a microprocessor or microcontroller. By thismeans, the controller can connect any one of 256 combinations of thecapacitors across the power line or disconnect any or all of thecapacitors from the power line by writing an appropriate binary word tothe output port in which the bit content of the binary word correspondsto the combination of capacitors to be connected or disconnected.

[0014] In the second, phase based, embodiment of the present invention,both current and voltage and the phase relationship therebetween arecontinually measured. The amount of compensating capacitance value toreduce the phase angle to near zero is calculated. Then a combination ofcapacitors which roughly equals the compensating capacitance value iscoupled to the power line to compensate for the sensed inductive loads.The second embodiment of the present invention employs the same set ofcapacitors and, in general, the same apparatus as the first embodiment.Thus, the second embodiment uses a set of capacitors whose capacitancevalues are multiples of a base capacitance which would result in areactance that would draw one ampere of current at the nominal linefrequency and voltage. The set of capacitors also vary in value inpowers of two multiplied by the base capacitance.

[0015] Other objects and advantages of this invention will becomeapparent from the following description taken in relation to theaccompanying drawings wherein are set forth, by way of illustration andexample, certain embodiments of this invention.

[0016] The drawings constitute a part of this specification, includeexemplary embodiments of the present invention, and illustrate variousobjects and features thereof.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0017]FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating the principal components ofan automatic power factor correction system which embodies the presentinvention.

[0018]FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a capacitor bank of theautomatic power factor correction system.

[0019]FIG. 3 is a flow diagram illustrating process steps of a maincurrent based routine of the automatic power factor correction system.

[0020]FIG. 4 is a flow diagram illustrating process steps of a routineof the present invention for measuring current drawn by an electricalpower installation.

[0021]FIG. 5 is a flow diagram illustrating process steps of anincremental current based routine for correcting power factor accordingto the present invention.

[0022]FIG. 6 is a flow diagram illustrating an alternative embodiment ofthe automatic power correction system of the present invention which isbased on direct phase measurement of power drawn by an electrical powerinstallation.

[0023]FIG. 7 is a flow diagram illustrating steps of a routine for phasemeasurement within the alternative phase based embodiment of the presentinvention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0024] As required, detailed embodiments of the present invention aredisclosed herein; however, it is to be understood that the disclosedembodiments are merely exemplary of the invention, which may be embodiedin various forms. Therefore, specific structural and functional detailsdisclosed herein are not to be interpreted as limiting, but merely as abasis for the claims and as a representative basis for teaching oneskilled in the art to variously employ the present invention invirtually any appropriately detailed structure.

[0025] Referring to the drawings in more detail, the reference numeral 1generally designates an apparatus and 2 a method for automaticallycorrecting the power factor of a power installation 3 (FIG. 2) drawing avariable level of reactive power at random times from a power line 4. Ingeneral, the present invention measures an electrical parameter of thepower drawn by a load 5 (FIG. 2) of a power installation 3 which iscapable of indicating a level of reactive power drawn by the load andcouples a combination of reactance elements 6 to the power line 4 tosubstantially compensate for the level of reactive power indicated bythe electrical parameter measured.

[0026] Referring to FIG. 1, the power factor correction apparatus 1includes current sensing circuitry 10 with output processed by currentscaling circuitry 11 for input to a current analog to digital converter(ADC) 12. The current sensing circuitry 10 may be, for example, aconventional type of clamp-on current sensor which electromagneticallycouples to a set of AC power conductors for measuring current flowtherethrough. The current scaling circuitry 11 may be a voltage orcurrent divider network which reduces the measured level to a convenientrange for input to the current ADC 12. The output of the current ADC 12is a digital word having a binary value which is proportional to themeasured level of current flowing in the power line 4.

[0027] The illustrated apparatus 1 may also include voltage sensingcircuitry 14, voltage scaling circuitry 15, and a voltage analog todigital converter (ADC) 16. The voltage sensing circuitry 14 preferablyis connected directly across the power line 4 and includes scalingcircuitry 15, such as a voltage divider network, which scales thevoltage sensed to a desired level for processing by the voltage ADC 16.The manner of connections of the current sensing circuitry 10 and thevoltage sensing circuitry 14 form a basis for measuring the phase ofpower flowing in the power line 4. The current sensing circuitry 10 iselectromagnetically coupled to the power line 4 and, thus, its readingstrack the value of current flowing in the power line 4. On the otherhand, the voltage sensor 14 is conductively connected to the power line4 and is, thus, affected by the voltage across the power line. Thevoltage sensing elements 14, 15 and 16 need not be present in the firstembodiment of the apparatus 1. The clamp-on type current sensor 10,since it is inductive in nature, adds a small phase shift of its own,which may introduce some error in a phase determination. However, suchshift is constant and may be masked by measurement scaling steps, aswill be detailed below. Alternatively, other types of current sensingelements not requiring inductive coupling could also be employed, suchas a Hall effect based current sensor. The current sensor 10 and voltagesensor 14 also preferably incorporate half wave rectifiers.

[0028] The current ADC 12 and, if present, the voltage ADC 16 areinterfaced to ports of a controller 20, which may be a microprocessor, amicrocontroller, or the like. The illustrated controller 20 includesflash programmable ROM (read-only memory) 22 which stores programs andfixed data and RAM (read/write memory) 24 which stores temporary data.The controller 20 may be implemented by any of a number of known typesof embedded microprocessors, microcontrollers, and the like. Thecontroller 20 may, for example, be one of the PIC16F87X series ofmicrocontrollers manufactured by Microchip Technology, Inc.(www.microchip.com). The controller 20 includes a parallel port 26 whichis interfaced through a set of drivers 28 and solid state relays orlatching switches 30 to a plurality of capacitors 32 of a capacitor bank6.

[0029]FIG. 2 illustrates details of the capacitor bank 6 and the mannerof interfacing the capacitors 32 of the bank 6 to the port 26 of thecontroller 20. The port 26 is illustrated as having eight bits 36labeled P0 through P7. Each bit 36 is connected through a latchingswitch 30 to a specific capacitor 32. The capacitors 32 are shown ashaving values (1×C) through (128×C), varying in powers of two ordoubling. The value “C” is selected as the value of capacitance whichwill form a capacitive reactance which will draw approximately oneampere of current at the nominal line frequency and line voltage of thepower line 4. The value of “C” is 22 microfarads for a line frequency of60 hertz and a nominal AC line voltage of 110 volts. Alternatively, thevalue of “C” could be determined to draw some other value of current,such as one-half ampere, a quarter of an ampere, or the like, dependingon the degree of correction resolution desired. In such a case, it wouldstill be desirable to vary the values of capacitors 32 in the capacitorbank 6 by multiples of 2 for convenient binary switching control of thecapacitors 32.

[0030] By use of such a set of capacitors 32, the compensationresolution of the apparatus 1 is one ampere of correction. The set ofcapacitors 32 in the illustrated capacitor bank 6, and activated in thematter illustrated in FIG. 2, can provide any capacitance value fromzero to 255 times “C”, in increments of “C”. The controller 20 simplywrites a binary word to the port 26 in which the binary content of theword corresponds to the capacitors 32 it has been determined requirecoupling to the power line 4. The drivers 28 provide isolation anddriving current to operate the solid state relays 30, such as triacs,SCR's, or the like. The relays or switches 30, or the drivers 28,preferably have latching capability so that the most recent state ofactivation written to the port 26 is maintained until changed by a newword from the controller 20. The apparatus 1 may be set up to use eithera positive logic, in which a logic one activates the switches 30, or anegative logic, in which a logic zero activates the switches 30.

[0031] Each set of a capacitor 32 and its latching switch 30 isconnected across the power line 4. In a physical embodiment of thecapacitor bank 6 shown, the sets of capacitors 32 with latching switches30 can be connected in parallel and simply plugged into a convenientoutlet of the power installation 3, preferably in close proximity to adistribution box (not shown) of the installation 3. FIG. 2 showsappliances 5 which are connected by respective appliance switches 38 tothe power line 4.

[0032]FIG. 3 illustrates a main routine of a current level basedembodiment 44 of the power factor correction method 2 of the presentinvention. The current method 44 is a successive approximation approachto compensating for reactive power drawn by the loads 5 of the powerinstallation 3. Generally, current is measured and compared to apreviously measured current level. If the difference is significant,capacitors 32 are activated until the current increases. At that point,the method 44 reverts to the capacitance level just prior to the levelwhich caused an increase in current drawn. The method 44 is based on thefact that a certain amount of capacitance connected across the powerline 4 compensates for the inductive power drawn by the loads 5 and,thus, reduces the total current drawn. When the optimum capacitancelevel is exceeded, the phase angle becomes capacitive, which causes thecurrent level to increase. The process 44, thus, reverts to the optimumcapacitance level.

[0033] Referring to FIG. 3, at step 48, all variables are initializedand, at step 50, previously measured high and low current levels (H andL) are scaled as desired. For example, in step 50, the previous low andhigh levels may be set to a define a minimum increment to be considered.At step 52, the current ADC 12 is sampled, as will be detailed inreference to FIG. 4. A resulting average current value, ADC, is comparedto the previous low (L) at test 54. If ADC is less than the scaledprevious low, the previous low L is set to the current average at step55, ADC, and the process loops back to repeat steps 50, 52, and 54. Ifthe average ADC exceeds the previous high H at test 56, a settling delayinterval is observed at step 58 and the current ADC 12 is sampled againat step 60. If any capacitors 32 are currently activated, as determinedby test 62, such capacitors 32 are switched out at 64, by writing a nullword (00000000) to the port 26, and the capacitors 32 are successivelyswitched back into parallel with the power line 4 in a find minimumcurrent step 66 (FIG. 5) until the measured current increases.

[0034] Referring to FIG. 4, the sample ADC routine 52/60 is shown. Acurrent value proportional to current drawn through the power line 4 bythe loads 5 is sampled a selected number of times at step 70. The numberof times current is sampled depends on the speed of the controller 20and the overall processing requirements of the process 44. From the setof samples generated in step 70, a highest peak H and a lowest peak Lare selected at step 72. The peaks refer to the sinusoidal peaks of thewaveform of the current on the power line 4. Also, an average of the setof samples is calculated at step 74 and stored as “ADC”. The routine52/60 returns at step 76 to the calling process 44 with variables H, L,and ADC. Hereafter, all process steps labeled “sample ADC” will functionin the manner detailed with reference to steps 52/60.

[0035]FIG. 5 illustrates the routine 66 for actually correcting thepower factor of the power line 4 under the influence of current drawn byappliances 5. Variables for the routine 66 are initialized at step 80,followed by an initial current minimizing loop 82. A test at 84determines if every one of the capacitors 32 has been tried. It isunlikely that all of the capacitors 32, with values as shown in FIG. 2,will be cycled through. The highest value capacitor 32 in the bank 6 hasa value of 128 times 22 microfarads and, as such, represents acorrection of 128 amperes of reactive current. The great majority ofresidential power installations do not exceed 100 amperes of service. Ifthe loop count has not been exceeded at 84, a settling delay is observedat step 86, followed by a “sample ADC” step 88, as previously detailedwith reference to steps 52 and 60. At test 90, it is determined if themeasured current has decreased. If so, the capacitance is doubled atstep 92, and the loop 82 repeated. It should be noted that on the firstoccurrence of loop 82, the lowest value (1 times C) is connected acrossthe power line 4 at step 92.

[0036] If the current does not decrease at test 90, that is, if itincreases, a test at 96 determines if only the first capacitor increment(1 times C) has been tried. If so, the capacitance value (1×C) isdisconnected at step 98, the current ADC 12 is sampled at step 100, andthe routine 66 returns at step 102 to the calling process 44. If anycapacitor 32 other than (1×C) has been connected, that value is halvedat step 106 to revert to the previous level of capacitance before thecurrent increased at test 90 and the value of C1 (equal to the value ofcapacitance before halving) is saved, and a final current minimizingloop 108 is entered.

[0037] At each round of the loop 108, a test is conducted at 112 todetermine if the current value of capacitance is less than the value ofcapacitance resulting from loop 82. If so, a settling delay 114 iswaited out, a sampling of the current ADC 12 at step 116, and a currentdecrease step at 118 are executed. If the measured current decreases attest 118, the capacitance value is incremented by a value of “C” at step120. If the current level does not decrease at test 118, the value ofcapacitance is decremented at step 122, current level is sampled at step124, and the routine 66 returns at 126 to the calling process 44. If theloop 108 repeats until the test at 112 returns an “untrue”, the routine66 also returns at 126, since the maximum value of compensatingcapacitance has been attempted through loop 108 without increasing themeasured current.

[0038]FIG. 6 illustrates an alternative phase based embodiment 130 ofthe power factor correction method of the present invention. The process130 is capable of measuring a varying level of phase shift in the powerline 4 caused by randomly activated appliances 5 of a power installation3, determine a combination of capacitors 32 to compensate for thereactive phase relationship of the power, and cause the combination tobe coupled to the power line 4 to return the phase relationship of thepower line 4 to a substantially resistive, or at least minimized, phaseangle.

[0039] The process 130 generally measures phase by detecting thesequence of and measuring the time interval, if any, between the zerocrossing points of the voltage and current waveforms. This is a wellknown technique for measuring phase, and various configurations ofcircuitry for such zero crossing detectors (not shown) would occur toskilled in the appropriate art. Such zero crossing detector circuitrycould be used within the apparatus 1 in combination with the current andvoltage sensing circuitry 10-16 (FIG. 1). However, the process 130 canalso be practiced with the current and voltage sensing circuitry 10-16alone.

[0040] The phase based power factor correction process 130 beginssimilar to the process 44 with initialization of variables at step 134,scaling previously determined H and L current measurements at step 136,and sampling the current ADC 12 at step 138. The step 138 issubstantially similar to the sample ADC step 52 described in relation tothe process 44. Tests 140 and 142 are similar to tests 54 and 56 of theprocess 44 and determine if the currently measured current issignificantly different in level from previously measured currentlevels. If the currently measured current level is less than theprevious low peak L at test 140, the L value is replaced with the newADC current value at step 141, and steps 136 and 138 are repeated. Ifthe ADC value is not greater than the previously measured high peak H attest 142, the steps 136 and 138 are repeated. In the illustrated process130, unless a selected change in measured current level is detected bythe tests 140 and 142, the process 130 does not make an attempt tocorrect power the factor.

[0041] If the test 142 is true, after a settling delay at step 144, thecurrent ADC 12 is sampled at 146, and a “find phase” routine 150 isentered, as will be detailed with reference to FIG. 7. If the find phaseroutine 150 determines the phase to be capacitive, as determined by test154, the process 130 calculates the combination of capacitors 32 tominimize the measured phase angle at step 156, and at step 158 turns offcapacitors as needed to correct the phase. In practice, steps 156 and158 may be needed if an appliance 5 is turned off, leaving the powerinstallation 3 over-corrected by the capacitor bank 6. If the routine150 determines the phase to be inductive, as shown by test 160, at step162 the process 130 calculates the combination of capacitors 32 requiredto correct the phase, and at step 164 turns on the combination ofcapacitors 32 determined from step 162.

[0042] Referring to FIG. 7, the find phase routine 150 waits at step 170for the voltage and current, as measured by the sensors 14 and 10, to goto zero, then samples both voltage and current at step 172 by way of theADC's 16 and 12. At tests 174, 176, and 178, the process 150 determinesif the voltage and current cross zero simultaneously at test 174, thevoltage crosses zero volts first at test 176, or the current crosseszero amperes first at test 178. If the voltage and current cross zerosubstantially simultaneously, within a selected window of time, thephase relationship of the power line 4 is determined to be resistive atstep 180, and the process returns at step 182 to give “no” answers totests 154 and 160.

[0043] If the voltage crosses zero first, as determined by the test 176,the phase relationship is determined to be inductive at step 186, and aphase timer is started. During a phase timing loop 188, the current issampled repeatedly at step 190, via the current ADC 12, until the test192 determines that the current has crossed zero. At that point, thephase timer value is obtained and scaled to a phase factor at step 194.The phase factor indicates whether the phase correction needed is aninductive correction or a capacitive correction. The phase factor isalso proportional to the value of correction needed, as scaled at step196. Thereafter, the routine 150 returns at step 198 to the process 130.

[0044] In a similar manner, if test 178 determines that the currentcrossed zero first, it is determined that the phase relationship iscapacitive at step 200, and the phase timer is started. A phase timerloop 202 repeatedly samples the voltage at step 204, via the voltage ADC16, until test 206 indicates that the voltage has crossed zero. At step208, the final timer value is scaled to a phase factor at step 210which, in turn, is scaled to a corrective capacitance value at step 196.The routine 150 then returns at 198 to the process 130.

[0045] The processes 44 and 130, along with supporting routines 52, 66,and 150 are continuing processes which continually measure eithercurrent flow or current flow and phase relationship of the power line 4and couple combinations of the capacitors 32 to the power line 4 tocompensate for any detected non-resistive power factor detected, withinthe resolution of the hardware and software employed. The processes 44and 130 are self-starting and require no entry of initial settings ifthe apparatus 1 is powered down or otherwise interrupted. The apparatus1 does not require a backup battery, but may derive its operating powerfrom the power line 4 using a power supply (not shown). The solid staterelays/latches 30 are preferably configured that if operating powerthereto is interrupted, the relays 30 open, such that the correctingcapacitors 32 are only coupled when power supplied to the remainder ofthe apparatus 1 is capable of operating the apparatus 1. Thus, theapparatus 1 is essentially fail-safe.

[0046] It is to be understood that while certain forms of the presentinvention have been illustrated and described herein, it is not to belimited to the specific forms or arrangement of parts described andshown.

What is claimed and desired to secure by Letters Patent is:
 1. A powerfactor correction apparatus for power factor correcting an electricalinstallation including a power line having coupled thereto a loaddrawing AC electrical power including a potentially variable level ofreactive power, said apparatus comprising: (a) power sensor circuitrycoupled to said power line and operative to detect an electricalparameter of electrical power drawn by said load which indicates a phaserelationship of voltage and current of said power; (b) a plurality ofreactance elements; (c) switching circuitry controllable to couple saidreactance elements to said power line individually or in selectedcombinations; and (d) a controller interfaced to said power sensorcircuitry and said switching circuitry and operative, in response to alevel of said phase relationship indicated by said electrical parameter,to cause said switching circuitry to couple an appropriate combinationof said reactance elements to said power line to thereby minimize saidphase relationship indicated by said electrical parameter.
 2. Anapparatus as set forth in claim 1 wherein: (a) said power sensor detectsrespective zero crossing points of said voltage and current of saidpower; and (b) said controller detects a sequence of said respectivezero crossing points and measures a time interval therebetween tothereby determine said phase relationship.
 3. An apparatus as set forthin claim 1 wherein said reactance elements include: (a) a plurality ofcapacitors.
 4. An apparatus as set forth in claim 1 wherein saidreactance elements include: (a) a set of capacitors of capacitancevalues varying in powers of two from a minimum capacitance value to amaximum capacitance value.
 5. An apparatus as set forth in claim 1wherein said reactance elements include: (a) a plurality of capacitors,each capacitor having a capacitance value which is a multiple of a basecapacitance value; and (b) said base capacitance value is thatcapacitance value which results in a reactance which draws substantiallyone ampere at a nominal line frequency and line voltage of said powerline.
 6. An apparatus as set forth in claim 1 wherein: (a) saidcontroller includes a digital port formed by a specific plurality ofport terminals; (b) said switching circuitry includes latching elementswhich couple each of said reactance elements to specific ones of saidport terminals; and (c) said controller causes selected ones of saidreactance elements to be coupled to said power line by writing to saidport a multiple bit binary word having a bit content corresponding tosaid selected ones of said reactance elements.
 7. A method for powerfactor correcting an electrical power installation including a powerline having coupled thereto a load drawing AC electrical power includinga potentially variable level of reactive power, said method comprisingthe steps of: (a) measuring a phase value substantially proportional toan electrical phase angle between voltage and current of said electricalpower drawn by said load by detecting a sequence of respective zerocrossing points of said voltage and current, measuring a time intervalbetween said zero crossing points, and scaling said time interval tosaid phase angle; (b) automatically calculating a compensating reactancevalue to minimize said electrical phase angle of said electrical power;and (c) automatically controlling coupling to said power line acombination of capacitors to result in a reactance value substantiallycomparable to said compensating reactance value.
 8. A method as setforth in claim 7 wherein said coupling step includes the step of: (a)coupling one or more of a set of capacitors to said power line, said setof capacitors having capacitance values varying in powers of two from aminimum capacitance value to a maximum capacitance value.
 9. A method asset forth in claim 7 wherein said coupling step includes the step of:(a) coupling one or more of a set of capacitors to said power line, eachcapacitor having a capacitance value which is a multiple of a basecapacitance value, and said base capacitance value being thatcapacitance value which results in a reactance which draws substantiallyone ampere at a selected nominal line frequency and a selected nominalline voltage of said power line.
 10. A method as set forth in claim 7and including the steps of: (a) providing a controller including adigital port formed by a specific plurality of port terminals andswitching circuitry including latching elements which couple each ofsaid capacitors to specific ones of said port terminals; and (b) saidcontroller effecting coupling of said appropriate combination of saidcapacitors to said power line by writing to said port a multiple bitbinary word having a bit content corresponding to said appropriatecombination of said capacitors.
 11. A method for power factor correctingan electrical power installation including a power line having coupledthereto a load drawing AC electrical power including a potentiallyvariable level of reactive power, said method comprising the steps of:(a) measuring a phase value substantially proportional to an electricalphase angle between voltage and current of said electrical power drawnby said load by the steps of: (1) detecting a sequence of respectivezero crossing points of said voltage and current; (2) measuring a timeinterval between said zero crossing points; and (3) scaling said timeinterval to said phase angle; (b) automatically calculating acompensating reactance value to minimize said electrical phase angle ofsaid electrical power; (c) providing a plurality of capacitors; (d)providing a controller including a digital port formed by a specificplurality of port terminals and switching circuitry including latchingelements which couple said capacitors to specific ones of said portterminals; and (e) said controller automatically controlling coupling tosaid power line a combination of capacitors to result in a reactancevalue substantially comparable to said compensating reactance value bywriting to said port a multiple bit binary word having a bit contentcorresponding to said appropriate combination of said capacitors.
 12. Amethod as set forth in claim 11 wherein said coupling step includes thestep of: (a) coupling one or more of a set of capacitors to said powerline, said set of capacitors having capacitance values varying in powersof two from a minimum capacitance value to a maximum capacitance value.13. A method as set forth in claim 11 wherein said coupling stepincludes the step of: (a) coupling one or more of a set of capacitors tosaid power line, each capacitor having a capacitance value which is amultiple of a base capacitance value, and said base capacitance valuebeing that capacitance value which results in a reactance which draws aselected unit of current at a selected nominal line frequency and aselected nominal line voltage of said power line.
 14. A method as setforth in claim 11 wherein said coupling step includes the step of: (a)coupling one or more of a set of capacitors to said power line, eachcapacitor having a capacitance value which is a multiple of a basecapacitance value, and said base capacitance value being thatcapacitance value which results in a reactance which draws substantiallyone ampere at a selected nominal line frequency and a selected nominalline voltage of said power line.